China's Hou draws with Muzychuk in 3rd game of World Chess Championship final

[JSCh]

China's Hou draws with Muzychuk in 3rd game of World Chess Championship final - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Source: Xinhua | 2016-03-06 10:44:06 | Editor: huaxia

Hou Yifan plays in the 8th rounder of the 2013-2014 FIDE women's Grand Prix on June 28, 2014 in Georgia's Lopota. (Xinhua/Yi Gaochao)

KIEV, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Two-time world champion and FIDE Grand Prix winner Hou Yifan from China drew with reigning world champion Maria Muzychuk from Ukraine in the third leg of the Women World Chess Championship final match, held in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on Saturday.

The battle, which lasted three and a half hours, was particularly tense. Playing with black pieces, Hou, 22, started cautiously and played in defense. In the same time, Muzychuk, who has learned from her mistakes in the previous match, put pressure on Hou, but her attempts to outwit more experienced opponent failed.

As the game stalled following 36 moves, the grandmasters have agreed for a draw, gaining a half-point each.

Accumulating two points after three games, Hou has a one-point victory margin over Muzychuk, with seven games left to go.

The FIDE Women's World Chess Championship final match for golden chess crown, which kicked off on Wednesday, runs till March 18.

Hou, dubbed the "Genius Girl" in China, became the youngest world champion in women's chess is 2010's World Championship in Turkey.